rollerskate therapy

in march my husband and i got another dog. we already had a sharpei/lab mix named beefy and he's the most perfect dog in the world. we knew that it would be really difficult to find another dog as cool, but we were hoping to find one that was complementarily cool. (yes, that's a word. i just made it up.) i had a medium, lab/pit mix in mind or maybe a fuzzyfaced terrier type. instead we got mossberg. he's a 90-pound sharpei/st. bernard mix. yep.

mossberg is very sweet and he and beefy love each other. he loves the dog park and though he has severe hip dysplasia, mossberg can run like the wind.

his only problem? on-leash aggression. mossberg HATES rolling things: skateboards, scooters, the occasional bike. actually, i think he hates loud noises and fast-moving things. moss barks and lunges when these things come near and nothing you say gets through to him. he once even lost it when a woman was walking down the street with some pots and the handles were banging together. i am really uncomfortable with his behavior because i worry that some day he'll get away from me and hurt someone. he is 90 pounds. 40 less than me. that ain't a big difference when you're trying to restrain an animal that has a brain like a chicken.

i read up on aggression in dogs and one of the things that struck me was the theory that dogs on leashes feel out of control. and if coupled with noises that scare them, the loss of control can make a normally friendly dog go nuts. a suggestion was to sound happy and excited with them (be jolly) when there are things that scare them. if you're okay, they'll see it's okay and feel better... hm.

we live in a massive basement studio. yeah, that sounds contradictory, but it'd make sense if you saw it. i decided to try to desensitize mossberg to some of the things he doesn't like. i put on some good dance music, laced up my skates, and turned my apartment into a rink. i practiced my turns and backwards skating. mossberg and beefy chased me around the apartment and moss only bit at me a few times. it was more like mouthy playing, but i was a bit freaked. i was worried that he'd attack me or i'd fall down and bill would come home to find my face eaten off like that lady in britain.

after awhile, mossberg got bored and flopped down in the middle of my rink. i think i'll try to have some more sessions with him because he could get used to it and i got a bit of a workout.

i'm not sure if my "methods" of dog training are effective or healthy, but i'm fairly desperate and i'm willing to try just about anything. we're not ready to give up on old chicken-brain. it's time to eat some zingers and watch prime suspect 4 with the dogs. aaaah, junkfoodmovie therapy.

mossberg:



determined,
S

p.s. i'm now re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. i guess i'm going backwards now.